Improved bottle-stopper



UNITED STATEs PATENT EEicE,Y

YVILLIAM VOM HOFE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVED BOTTLE-STOPPER.

Specification formingpart of Letters Patent No. 70,654, dated November 5, 1867.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM VOM HoEE, of the city ofNew York, No. 87 Fulton street, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful VImproved Bottle- Stopper 5 vand l do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable those skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, in which drawing- Figure l represents a sectional side elevation of this invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the same.

Similar letters indicate corresponding parts.

This invention relates to a bottle-stopper composed of an expansible elastic plug, a `flanged nut, a follower, and a flat-headed screw, which parts are so combined that when the elastic plug is inserted into the mouth of a bottle and the screw is tightened up the follower forces said plug down into the neck, and against the flange of the nut, thereby compressing the same endwise, and causing its circumference to close up tight against the inner surface of the neck; and, furthermore, by using a flat-headed screw, I have been enabled to produce a bottlestopper fit for use in every household.

A represents my bottle-stopper when the same is in position in the mouth of a bottle..

Said stopper consists of a plug, a, of soft india-rubber, or other suitable elastic material, which is provided with a central aperture to admit the nut b. This nut is composed of a long cylindrical body, with a broad head or flange at its inner end, as clearly shown in Fig. l ofthe drawing; and said body may be made of such a length that it passes clear through the plug c and enters the follower c. This follower is made of wood, or any other suitable rigid material, of such a size that it will enter the mouth of the bottle easily, and it is bored out with a hole large enough to admit the body of the nut, as shown.

The nut b is tapped` to receive the screw d, which is provided with a flat milled head, bearing on the outer end of the follower. This flat headed screw I consider superior to a thumb-screw or to a winged nut, because it gives my bottle-stopper a more finished and rounded shape, rendering the same fit for all purposes where bottle-Stoppers are required.

In using my stopper, I introduce the plug a into the mouth of the bottle, and by tightening the screw d the follower c is forced Y sidered the follower, acts against the inner end of the elastic plug, and consequently has a tendency to force said plug out of the neck of the can or bottle, to prevent which it was necessary to apply a top, which catches over a lip or rim at the edge of the mouth of the can, and forms an abutment, retaining the expansible plug in the neck.

It is obvious that this device is not applicable to ordinary glass bottles, but only to such cans or bottles which have been constructed particularly to suit this degice.

In my stopper the follower c acts"`on the eX pansible plug from the outside, so as 'to force the same down into the neck against the flange of the nut, and it can be readily applied to ordinary bottles preciselyT the same as a common cork stopper.

My stopper can also be readily adjusted to lit the mouth of the bottle by squeezing it in between the follower and liange of the nut, with more or less power, until it becomes just large enough to enter the mouth of the bottle, and after it has been entered it is made to close up against the inner surface of the neck of the bottle by tightening up the screw, as above described.

'I do not claim as new the expansible plug as applied to sealing cans or bottles; but

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The nut b and headed screw d, entering each other, and, with the intervening follower, 0, clamping the elastic plug a, whereby the parts operate uniformly on each other, and form a stopper of nearly uniform diameter throughout, substantially as described.

WILLIAM VOM HOFE.

Witnesses W. HAUFE, GUsTAv BERG. 

